The Human Rights Council discusses internet freedom and censorship. It recognizes the right to freedom of expression online, but also the needs of countries to address threats to national security. It emphasizes threats can include conspiracies or content promoting violence, discrimination, while also taking cultural differences into account. The Council suggests adding an Internet Freedom Index to reviews and reaffirms the need to inform the public of censorship. It encourages establishing a UN Internet Task Force to deal with online corruption and regulate censorship while respecting sovereignty and culture. The Task Force would have headquarters in Zurich and govern censorship with 1/3 government, citizen, and journalist representatives.

1. Council:Topic:Human Rights CouncilInternet Freedom and Censorship Date: March 17th 2010HRC/Res/A/1Sponsors:Italy, France, UK, US, Ukraine, Netherlands, Japan, Qatar, ChinaCo-Sponsors:Jordan, Philippines, Mexico, Pakistan, Nigeria, Egypt<br />Recalling the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirming faith in fundamental human rights and the dignity and worth of the human person,<br />Affirming the faith in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights pertaining to the right of freedom of speech and expression,<br />Taking into consideration the needs of United Nations Human Rights Council member states to address issues threatening their national security,<br />Recognizing the importance of freedom of expression with regards to the universal promotion of growth, development and knowledge,<br />Encouraging the role of international institutions and Non Governmental Organizations working towards the elimination of human rights violations,<br />Respecting the right of every individual to freely access the Internet, <br />Emphasizing the importance of filtering content that poses a direct threat to national and/or international security <br />Taking into consideration the cultural differences between nations with regards to the varying levels of filtering,<br />The Human Rights Council:<br />Emphasizes that threats include but are not limited to conspiracies, supporting violence and promoting discrimination based on religion, culture, race or sex;<br />Recalls upon the Universal Periodic Review, and suggests the addition of the Internet Freedom Index which assesses the level of internet freedom and censorship in the country under review;<br />Reaffirms the need to inform the public when online data and information is censored or monitored;<br />There must be a list of websites that are monitored which should be released to the public;<br />Users should be notified if search results have been altered;<br />Encourages the establishment of a neutral advisory United Nations Internet Task Force that deals with diminishing corruption online through internet activism and will;<br />Be composed of internet experts and veteran journalists;<br />Have a permanent headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland and will not have any permanent presence in any other country;<br />Pay attention to the sovereignty of each state that it operates in while enforcing moderate regulations concerning Internet access and censorship;<br />Take into account culturally sensitive matters;<br />Request that upon the desire to censor, the specific government submit a form to UN task force justifying legitimate reasons behind what and why they want to censor;<br />Ensures that voting on any issue that concerns Internet censorship will be conducted by one third being government representatives, one third being locally elected citizens and one third being international correspondents;<br />Be always available for consultation without the need to be physically present at the location of the dispute, in the case that it is unable to respond to any request put forward by a particular government to censor within forty eight hours, the local government is entitled to take temporary action on its own;<br />Urges all Internet Content Providers to comply with the rules and regulations set forth by the United Nations Internet Task Force;<br />Advocates that all individuals being prosecuted for Internet violations receive a fair and public trial in accordance with the laws of the nation where they were accused.<br />Enforces that no individual government can own more than two thirds of Internet Service Providers in that country;<br />Condemns any form of illegal online activity including but not limited to child pornography, illegal online gambling, medical drugs without prescriptions, is subject to censorship;<br />Reaffirms that individuals are subject to prosecution if their online activities directly instigate any form of violence, hate or discrimination in all its forms; <br />Reminds all states that anything that presents a threat to state security is subject to censorship;<br />